Often used in a meme sorta way. Similar vein as “ex sucks don’t buy”. Not to be taken 100% seriously.
Anyone who just enjoys collecting Pokémon cards they like, be it binder/graded or vintage/modern.
Now we’re only missing c0ll£ct0r, €0ll3€t0r and <0lle<ㅜ0r, then the whole team will be here.
A true collector is anyone who travelled to a regionals event just to see Ken in person.
I would say someone who genuinely enjoys the thing they are collecting whether it goes up in value or not. My collection of cards, games, and everything could be worthless in 40 years and Ill still look back at all the faun memories and be happy with all the cool pieces i’ve collected and places I got to visit while doing it. I think now that there’s more money in the it can get cloudy in who is a collector versus someone just using it as a business opportunity.
Send 100 USD to me and you will become a true collector.
Become a true collectors next week!
Is there a false collector then?
Maybe the real “true collectors” are the friends we made along the way.
That’s an interesting question.
I actually collected even before I knew of the concept of a “collector”.
As a kid I would collect random coins either old or from different countries just because I found them unique … it was like building a treasure.
Then I collected old books, because I felt a sense for preserving a point in time that I thought represented something important for me or of importance…capturing a moment of history.
So collecting has not been an afterthought , it has always been there and continuously. I have always collected something from video games to card games.
So maybe a “true” collector is something you have inside that recognize beauty in things you collect and ultimately amass it like a treasure.
Perhaps a true collector is somebody who doesn’t sell easy.
Keeping items is the foundation of collecting.
I like this
Anyone who can name 5-10 Pokemon outside of Charizard & Pikachu= “True Fan”
Anyone who owns 5-10 cards outside of Charizard & Pikachu= “True Collector”
As a serious answer the concept of a true collector is condescending and unrealistic while simultaneously still has some merit.
I think it really comes down to intention when you are buying. A “true collector” is 100% acquiring things because they are building a collection. There’s no thinking about what the value will be in 4 years or care for grading unless they personally enjoy graded cards. In contrast, going to walmart and listing items on virbank while they are still in your cart is 100% the opposite.
It’s also why I made that quip about people who have a short-hand reference to their “personal collection” (PC) because the distinction has no relevancy to a “true collector”.
The reality is that a vast spectrum exists and most people fall somewhere in the middle. The
“true collector scale” can unfortunately be treated like a purity test, where someone is either more or less of a “true collector” than you are. But there is nothing inherently wrong with participating in this hobby via reselling if that’s what you want to do. If you judge someone for not being a true enough collector, that says more about you than the person you are judging.
While it is silly to put yourself on higher ground simply because you buy a card for a different reason than someone else, I will say I’d rather talk to or associate with people that are closer to the true collector side of the spectrum. Particularity because the only way you can exist in that mindspace is if you have a genuine interest in pokemon cards. However, I’ve also met plenty of people who sell more than they keep and plenty of them also have genuine interest.
I think ultimately the true collector mentality correlates with genuine interest and that’s really what is the center of concern here.
If you sell your bulk, you’re not TRU